Support

A recent study conducted by Anne Jane Hill of the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia documents the advantages using telerehabilitation to assess apraxia of speech in adults. A number of prior studies have been conducted proving that the remote use of information technology and telecommunication systems are effective in assessing speech and language skills in people with neurogenic communication disorders. However, Hill’s study is one of the few that has addressed the use of telerehabilitation in the assessment of individuals suffering from apraxia of aspeech.

The aim of Hill and her staff was to determine if a valid and reliable assessment of apraxia of speech using a standardized assessment tool is feasible via telerehabilitation. The study focused on the assessment of eleven participants with acquired apraxia of speech using traditional face-to-face and telerehabilitation methods on Apraxia Battery for Adults. Results revealed no significant differences between the subtest scores of the assessments obtained in the telerehabilitation and face-to-face test environments. These findings may have implications for the development of evidence-based guidelines for the use of telerehabilitation techniques in the assessment of apraxia of speech. For more information on this groundbreaking discovery please click on this link.